Russia denies Microsoft cyber attacks

MOSCOW: Moscow on Tuesday vehemently rejected claims by Microsoft that Russia was behind cyber attacks on companies researching coronavirus vaccines and treatments, saying it was being made a scapegoat.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told state news agency RIA Novosti it had become "politically fashionable" to pin the blame for cyber attacks on Moscow. Russia announced in August that it had registered the world’s first coronavirus vaccine, Sputnik V -- named after the Soviet-era satellite -- but did so ahead of large-scale clinical trials.